Crane



g- 1965 E. c. BREKELBAUM ETAL 3,198,345

CRANE Filed Oct. 22, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v IF INVENTO snwm c. aasxsuaw ROBERT J. ausnone, BY eeonee 0. won. a

GEORGE a KLOS 5s 55 FIG.5 F|G.6 FIG? GMMMMW M ATTORNEYS 1965 E. c. BREKELBAUM ETAL 3,198,345

CRANE z Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 22, 1962 FIG. 4

FIG. 3

INVENTORS axaaa f .ezfi' a bme aazmrbs 8 QRNEYS United States Patent 3,198,345 RANE Erwin (I. Brekeihaum, Eiyria, Robert J. Bushnng, Vermilion, and George (I. Noll and George B. lilies, Eiyria, Ohio, assignors, by mesne assignments, to Kochring Company, Miiwauhee, Wis a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Oct. 22, W62, Ser. No. 232,190 4 Ciahns. (Cl. 2llZ-59) crane for construction jobs in the erection of tall buildings and, in such capacity, is especially useful for steel erection or concrete pouring. With slight modification, the tower boom of such tower crane can. be employed to lift extremely heavy loads.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide a crane which is not a single purpose machine limited. in its job applications.

' Another principal object is the provision of a versatile crane boom structure attachment for cranes and the like which can be employed to convert a standard crane into a tower crane and vice versa.

A further object is the provision of a crane boom attachment for tower cranes and the like which can readily be converted to lift large loads at relatively short heights.

Yet another object is the provision of a boom and back stay assembly which will permit a crane boom to be locked in vertical position, in horizontal position,

' or operated freely therebetween.

A still further object is the provision of fiat headed crane booms obtaining greater reach and load capacities with less boom height.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description procceds.

T o the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises'the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the inventioh, these being indicative, however, of buta few of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a crane in accordance with the present invention in one of its many assembled conditions employed as a tower crane;

FIG. -2 is a fragmentary side elevation similar to FIG. 1 illustrating the tower boom of such crane employed alone for the lifting of loads;

FIG. 3' is an enlarged side elevation illustrating the tower boom base section employed with a hammerhead attachment for the lifting of large loads at relatively short distances;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation similar to FIG. 1 on a reduced scale illustrating the tower crane of FIG. 1 employed with a longer standard boom and a boom tip extension;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a boom back stay in accordance with the present invention;

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FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of the lower end of such back stay as seen from the right in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view of the lower end of such back stay in its locked condition; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 as seen from the right in FIG. 7.

Referring now to the annexed drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a crane carrier 1 which comprises a chassis or frame 2 having a drivers cab 3 and a prime mover 4 driving rubber tired wheels 6 for propelling the carrier over the ground. In carriers of this type, there may be as many as 16 such rubber tired wheels 6 supporting the carrier.

On the bed of the carrier frame 2, there is provided a turntable 7 rotatably supporting a crane superstruc ture 8 for swinging movement about the vertical axis of such turntable. The superstructure 8 includes the usual hoisting mechanisms which are controlled by the operator in cab 9. Such superstructure is also provided with a forwardly projecting boom foot it) support ing the base of base section 11 of tower boom 12. The tower boom, in addition to the base section 11 includes intermediate sections l3, i l, 15 and a peak section 16 all pin-connected together to form the tower boom 12 pivotally connected to the boom foot 1% of the superstructure d. Such boom sections are pin-connectedtogether to form the tower boom as indicated at 17 and the base section 11 tapers to the boom foot 1t) while the peak section 16 increases in transverse dimension and is topped with a cap or frame 18 having a flat top. At the forward edge of such cap or frame, there is provided two forwardly projecting members to which the standard boom 2t) may be pivotally connected as at 21. The tower boom then provides a forwardly offset boom foot 21 for the boom 29 which is comprised of a tapering base section 22, an intermediate section 23, and a peak section 24- which tapers to. the boom peak 25. It will be understood that more than the one illustrated intermediate boom sections may be provided and, for example, the standard boom 2t) may be up to feet in length.

Pivoted to the top of the peak section 16 of the tower boom is a mast structure 27, the peak of which is interconnected with the peak of the standard boom 2% by pendants 2d. The peak of such mast is also connected by a pendant 29 to the peak of a mast 30 which is pivoted at 31 to the sides of the frame 18. Pendants 32 connect the peak of the mast 30 to a harness 33 which is connected by a rceving system 34 to a further harness .35 mounted at the distal end of a frame 36 which is bearing of turntable 7. A load such as a steel beam, concrete bucket or the like may be carried on a. hook 42 suspended from the end of the hoisting cable: 43 which is trained about a sheave 44 at the peak 25 of the standard boom 2% and about a sheave 45 mounted on suitable rearwardly extending brackets 46 at the back of the tower peak frame 18 and which then extends downwardly into the superstructure 8 and the load hoisting mechanism.

A pair of back stays 5t}, shown in more detail in FIGS. 5 through 8, is provided extending from the top of the base section 11 of the tower boom to the A-frame of the superstructure 8. Referring additionally to such figures, it will be seen that such back stays comprise telescoping tubular members 51 and 52 which are pinconnected respectively to the top of the base section 11 'head room above the building.

.boom. This can be accomplished in two ways.

a3 and to the A-frame of the superstructure 8. The members 51 may be provided with eyes 53 for such pins so that they may be connected to a frame 54 surrounding the top of the tower base section 11. The inner member 52 is similarly provided with an eye 55 for connection to the A-frame of the superstructure 8. Such inner member may be provided with a plurality of transverse pin holes shown at 56, 57, 58 and 59. The outer member 51 may be provided with transversely extending pin holes an and the end of such member may be provided with two semi-circular recesses 61 transversely aligned and parallel with the holes in both the inner and outer members.

The carrier frame 2 is provided with power operated Outriggers shown at 62 and 63 which may be extended quickly laterally of the carrier frame 2 to provide a firm level base of increased dimension for the operation and elevation of the crane.

To elevate the tower 12 and the standard boom 20 pivoted to the offset foot 21 at the peak thereof, the booms 12 and 21) will be folded to lie substantially parallel to each other extending in the front of the machine supported on the ground G. After such outriggers are set, the reeving system 34 with the hoist line 4%) will be em: ployed to elevate the tower boom 12 to the vertical position shown. When thus elevated, the telescoping members 51 and 52 will achieve the position shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 wherein the pin holes 6t? in the outer telescoping member will be aligned with the pin holes 57 in the inner telescoping member. A locking pin 64 may then be inserted through such aligned holes to lock the inner and outer telescoping members against relative movement and the tower boom in vertical position. When initially vertically thus positioned, the standard boom 20 will be folded to lie vertically parallel to such tower boom and connected thereto as by a hook or like mechanism. The standard boom may then be weighed and the pendants and reeving 34 may then be further actuated to elevate the standard boom to its shown operating position. The tower boom 12 will then be vertically locked in position and the pendants and reeving system will be employed to operate the standard boom about its foot 21.

It will, of course, be understood that the tower boom may be increased in height by adding further boom sections, such as 14 and 15 or may be shortened by removing such boom sections. It will also be understood that the standard boom may be increased or decreased in length simply by adding or subtracting intermediate boom sections. In any event, cranes of the type shown in FIG. 1 have been found especially useful in the pouring of reinforced concrete building or other like structures or the erection of steel in buildings in that the crane carrier 1 can readily be driven adjacent to the base of the building and quickly and easily erected into the tower structure shown. The standard boom 20 may then extend horizontally over the top of the building to pour concrete or place steel in the middle thereof saving a substantial amount of working space at the base of the building, gaining a considerable amount of reach into the interior of the building, and eliminating a substantial amount of Cranes of this type with a 100 foot tower and a standard boom length of 90 feet can handle 2 cubic yards of concrete or more at a radius of approximately 70 feet or less.

At the same construction site, it may be desirable to use the crane in a conventional manner with but a single First of all, the tower boom 12 can be removed and the standard boom 20 can then be pivotally connected to the boom foot 10 on the superstructure ti. Conventional boom lengths of to 150 feet in length may then be employed with or without boom tip extensions up to feet with standard rubber tired crane capacities applying. However, since a considerable amount of erection time and disassembling is required to transfer the standard boom 21 to the foot 10 after the tower has been removed, the tower itself may be employed as a standard boom as shown in FIG. 2.

Two relatively short pins will normally be employed at the foot 21 to support the boom 21 and these can be removed and replaced with one longer pin at 7 0 which will rotatably mount sheaves 71 for the multiple parts of the hoist line 4-3 which may be trained over the sheave 45 at the back of the tower peak frame 18 and is then wrapped around the sheaves 71 on the shaft or pin and sheaves 72 in a fall block 73. When using the tower boom as a conventional crane boom as shown in FIG. 2, the two upper boom masts 27 and 31) will be removed and the pendants 32 normally connected to the distal end of the mast 31) will now be connected to brackets at the back of the tower boom peak frame 18. The pin 63 will, of course, be removed as seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 so that the outer tube 51 will be free to telescope outwardly over the tube 52. The pin 63 will be reinserted in the same hole in the inner tube 52 as seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. In the maximum permissible elevation of the boom, the outer tubular member 51 will come to rest on the projected pin surface from the inner member with such pin surface engaging the semi-circular recesses 61 in the end of such outer tubular member. The telescoping tubes and the associated pins then form mechanical boom stops for the operation of the tower boom as shown in FIG. 2 precluding the tower from pivoting over the back of the crane cab or superstructure 8. For different lengths of tower boom, the pin 63 may be placed in different holes such as 58 and 59 limiting the upward pivoting movement of the boom about the foot 19. It will also be understood that a spring cushion may be provided between the pin and tube reducing shock loads on the boom and back stops when the boom is brought suddenly to its maximum position of elevation.

In certain work applications at the same site, it may not be necessary or desirable to use the entire height of the tower boom 12 as a boom in the conventional manner as seen in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the tower boom may be disassembled by removal of sections 16 and as many intermediate sections 13 through 15 as desired and a five foot hammerhead section shown generally at in FIG. 3 may be mounted on the top of either the base section 11, as shown, or on the top of any intermediate tower boom section. Such hammerhead 80 may be pin-connected to the top of the tower base section 11 in the same manner as any subsequent boom section is connected thereto. Such hammer head section includes a rearwardly projecting sheave 81 and a plurality of forwardly projecting sheaves 82 accommodating the hoist line 43 which extends upwardly from the superstructure 8 about the sheave 81 and then about sheaves 82 and then about the sheaves on the fall block 73, etc. The sheaves 82 project forwardly of the boom base section 11 and the sheave 81 is substantially rearwardly of such boom base section. The hammerhead 80 includes a rearwardly projecting portion 84 which may be pendently connected to the harness 85 which is connected by boom hoist cable 86 to a harness 87 mounted at the peak of the folding back-hitch gantry 38.

When the hammerhead section is used on the base boom section 11, the frame 36 connected to the peak 37 of the folding back-hitch gantry may be removed and the harness then positioned directly at the peak of such back-hitch gantry. However, if it is not desired to pivot the boom section 11 about the foot 10, the frame 36 may be employed directly to connect the back-hitch gantry and the rearwardly projecting portion 84 of the hammerhead section 80. The back stays 50 may be unpinned as in FIG. 2 to serve as mechanical boom stops. The special hammerhead 80 is provided with a base which can be readily pin-connected at 88 to the top of the base boom section 11 or the top of any of the intermediate boom sections so that it can be placed at any desired height. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the employment of the :3 5 foot hammerhead section mounted on a 30 foot tower base section 11 produces a 35 foot stub boom which can be operated in the conventional manner lifting extremely heavy loads at short radii.

With the fiat head booms shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, substantially greater loads can be lifted with less head room in that the vertical suspension of the fall block 73 is offset forwardly of the boom axis. Since the moment arm of the derricking cable with respect to the boom is measured by the distance from the peak of the high folding back-hitch gantry to the boom axis, it can be seen that a substantial moment arm is obtained and due to the forward oifset of the suspension of the hook and fall block 73, greater reach is obtained with less boom height. With the illustrated tower boom, the hammerhead section 80 could then be mounted on a 53 foot tower, at 73 foot tower, or an 83 foot tower for the particular job application desired. The hammerhead section can readily be assembled to the desired tower boom section simply by lowering the tower boom to the ground and the hoist line 43 can be employed to assist in the erection of the hammerhead 80 on the particular boom section desired.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated substantially the same tower boom 12 employed with a somewhat longer standard boom 90 and a boom tip extension or jib 91. The tower may be elevated to vertical position and locked in such vertical position by the pin-connected tubular members of the back stays 50. The standard boom 90 pivoted at the foot 21 to the peak of the tower 12 may be substantially the same as the standard boom 20 shown in FIG. 1 with the exception of the addition of intermediate boom sections. Thus the base section 22 and the peak section 24 will be the same as in FIG. 1

and in addition to the intermediate section 23, additional boom sections 93, 94 and 95 may be added, making a boom 90 of approximately 140 feet in length.

Additional pendants may be added to the pendants 28 to support such boom, such pendants being connected to the peak section 24 thereof. The standard boom will thus be supported by the pendants 28 connected to the mast 27 pivoted to the peak of the tower, such mast in turn being connected by the pendant 29 to the peak of mast 30, also pivoted to the tower. The peak of the mast 30 is then connected by the pendant 32 to the harness 33 of the derricking cable 34 and by the employment of such derricking cable and the attendant derrick cable drums, the standard boom 90 may be elevated about the foot 21. The jib 91 is pivoted to the peak of the boom 90 at 96 and is supported at a fixed angular position with respect to such boom 9i) by pendants 97 and 9d connected to the peak of mast 99 and to the peak of boom 91 and to the outer end of base section 22 of the boom 90, respectively. Two hoist cables 1% and 101 may be employed with the cable 100 extending over a sheave 192 at the peak of the jib 91 and over a sheave 103 mounted on the mast 99. From there, the hoist cable extends about a sheave similar to the sheave 45 shown in FIG. I mounted at the back of the peak of the tower 12 and then downwardly to the hoisting mechanism in the superstructure 8. The cable 101 extends about a sheave mounted at the peak of the boom 90 and then over a sheave beside the sheave for the cable 109' at the back of the peak of the tower and then downwardly to the hoisting mechanism. Whereas both such cables are shown working, it will be understood that such is for illustrative purposes only in that only one will generally be operative at a time. With cranes such as that shown in FIG. 4, lifting heights of approximately 300 feet can be obtained with the same basic tower boom attachment shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. It will, of course, be appreciated that the capacities of the crane at such height and particularly at extended radii, is substantially less than the capacities of the crane embodiments of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for example.

In all such crane embodiments, the crane carrier with its hydraulically operated Outriggers can quickly and easily transport the crane to a different working site in a matter of minutes. When the crane employs a standard boom mounted on the top of the tower, the same will normally be folded to lie parallel to the tower for such movement. This can readily be accomplished by the derricking cable 34. In the case of the FIG. 4 embodiment, the jib 91 may be partially disassembled by removing two of the lower pins interconnecting the sections thereof and folding the same to lie back upon itself so that the peak sheave 102 will clear the ground when the crane is being moved to another site. In all such embodiments, the crane can be erected without outside assistance, such as an auxiliary crane since, the parts can be preassembled on the ground and simply connected to the tower boom sections when the same is in its horizontal position on the ground.

Although the boom sections of the tower and standard booms will have to be separately transported to the site, the base section 11 can be carried already connected to the machine. When thus transporting the base section, it will have to be in a substantially horizontal position to clear overhead wires, bridges, and the like. In such near horizontal position, the holes 5a in the inner tubular member 52 will be aligned with the holes 61? in the outer tubular member and such tubular members may be pinconnected together to suspend the base section 11 by means of the back stay assembly 59 so that the reeving system can be slack and not carry any load. The machine may then readily be transported to the site and the desired boom sections then assembled to the machine and the boom structures may then quickly and easily be elevated to the operating position.

It can now be seen that with the same basic machine, and employing the tower boom attachments of the present invention, a wide variety of job applications may be accomplished by such machine.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

We, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as our invention:

1. A crane comprising a rotatable superstructure, a boom pivotally connected to the superstructure, and a telescopic back stay connected to said boom and superstructure and operative to limit upward swinging move ment of the boom relative to the superstructure, characterized by said telescopic back stay comprising at least one pair of telescoping tubular members, and pin means operative optionally either to limit relative telescopic movement between said members to prevent said boom from swinging beyond a desired elevation about its pivot connection to said superstructure or to lock said telescoping members together to hold the boom in a vertical position.

2. A crane as set forth in claim 1, characterized by a forward offset member on the top of the boom adapted optionally to support pivotally at least one hoist sheave whereby a hoist cable may be trained over that sheave at which time the telescopic back stay device would permit swinging movement of the boom but limit the elevation of the boom, or to support pivotally another boom at which time the boom constitutes a tower boom and the telescopic back stay device would lock the boom in the vertical position.

3. A crane as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the boom comprises a base section and a hammerhead peak section connected to the top of the base scction, the peak section carrying hoist sheaves over which a hoist cable may be trained, the telescopic back stay '3 device being pivotally connected at one end to said base section and at the other end to said superstructure, by which, depending on the selected operation of the device, the base section can be locked in a vertical position or swung to the desired elevation.

4. A crane as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that the outside of said telescoping tubular members has a transverse aperture and a transverse recess in its bottom end face, and the inside of said tubular members has a plurality of spaced transverse apertures, said pin means being selectively positionable through the aperture in said outside member and an appropriate one of the apertures in said inside member to lock the telescopic members together, or through a selected one of the apertures in the inside member so as to engage in the recess and so prevent further relative telescoping movement of the tubular members when the boom has attained said desired elevation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/33 Forsythe et a1. 212-8 X 1/54 Shoemaker 212-70 9/54 Bushong et a1. 212-59 2/55 Hallstrom 2128 X 4/56 Felkner 212-145 6/59 Woolslayer et a1. 212-144 X 4/63 Jones et al 2l246 4/63 Staples 212-46 3/64 Markwardt et al. 212-59 FOREIGN PATENTS 3/53 France.

Examiners. 

1. A CRANE COMPRISING A ROTATABLE SUPERSTRUCTURE, A BOOM PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO THE SUPERSTRUCTURE, AND A TELESCOPIC BACK STAY CONNECTED TO SAID BOOM AND SUPERSTRUCTURE AND OPERATIVE TO LIMIT UPWARD SWINGING MOVEMENT OF THE BOOM RELATIVE TO THE SUPERSTRUCTURE, CHARACTERIZED BY SAID TELESCOPIC BACK STAY COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF TELESCOPING TUBULAR MEMBERS, AND PIN MEANS OPERATIVE OPTIONALLY EITHER TO LIMIT RELATIVE TELESCOPIC MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID MEMBERS TO PREVENT SAID BOOM FROM SWINGING BEYOND A DESIRED ELEVATION ABOUT ITS PIVOT CONNECTION TO SAID SUPERSTRUCTURE OR TO LOCK SAID TELESCOPING MEMBERS TOGETHER TO HOLD THE BOTTOM IN A VERTICAL POSITION. 